CCTV cameras may soon be able to recognise people using facial recognition technology

“Many people will find the ability for a machine to see everything we see creepy. Covering the camera on your phone, computer or connected device with some dark tape may be one of the few things we can do to keep ourselves safe from prying eyes in the future.”

Google said its purchase of Moodstocks would make its services “simpler and more useful”.

Vincent Simonet, head of Google’s French research and development centre, wrote: “We have made great strides in terms of visual recognition: now you can search in Google Pictures such as ‘party’ or ‘beach’ and the application will offer you good pictures without you n ‘ have never needed to categorize them manually.

“But there is still much to do in this area. And it is here that Moodstocks intervenes.”